Toyota hands over 2006 dissident memo to U.S. panel

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TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said today it has handed over to a U.S. congressional committee a letter sent to its management by a splinter union in 2006 seeking reforms to improve safety after a recall crisis at the time.

On Monday, Rep. Edolphus Towns, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked the automaker to turn over the document after a Los Angeles Times report on the letter. The two-page memo has been on the 20-member All Toyota Labor Union's Web site since late 2006.

The committee confirmed it had received the memo.

The October 2006 letter, addressed to then-president Katsuaki Watanabe, came in the wake of a a criminal investigation into Toyota on charges of professional negligence involving an accident in Japan that injured a family of five earlier that year. Toyota was eventually cleared of the charges.

The renewed scrutiny of the union's letter comes as Toyota grapples with a recall of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide since late last year for problems related to unintended acceleration.

The problems have been linked to at least five crash deaths in the United States since 2007, and have damaged Toyota's sales and reputation for quality.



Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100311/OEM/303119960/1143#ixzz0htt8YlEn

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1. Wow lets talk about Massa instead or or maybe the Olive Garden

DU, where important discussions are swept under the rug. Unless they involve trivial entertainment subjects.